Tenth Avenue North frontman Mike Donehey says he was rebellious as a child. The band played Faith Bible Chapel in Arvada on Thursday. Photo by Eliza Marie Somers

As a child, Mike Donehey didn’t take kindly to authority. But as the years added on, he has become one of the more introspective Christian rock artists today.

“I was rebellious as a child,” explains Donehey, lead vocalist for Tenth Avenue North. “When I was 4 years old, we went to Disney World and my mom had me on a leash so I wouldn’t get lost. Well, she looks around and sees a child who looks like me and is dressed like me. Well it was me. I took off the wrist band and put it on another kid. I went through life like that until I was in my 20s.”

And if not for a car accident, Donehey might still be fighting those authority figures. While recovering from a broken back, the then teenager asked his parents for a guitar and inspiration struck.

“It was the first time that I ever slowed down,” he says. “I always loved music and it seemed like a good thing.”

That good thing pointed Donehey, who says he “knew there was something else out there,” in a new direction and while a student at Palm Beach Atlantic University in Florida, he and a group of buddies founded Tenth Avenue North. Since its inception more than 10 years ago, the band has seen several players come and go, but its message is still the same: Truth and Beauty.

I’m a Denver Post sports copy editor, who covers Christian music in my spare time. I’m a rocker at heart. Grew up listening to Led Zeppelin, The Who ... classic rock is what they call it now. I was introduced to Christian rock by my cousin, Sharon. My first Christian rock experience was Atlanta Fest when I saw this new group — Third Day — playing in front of about 50 people at an outdoor picnic area.